Famous Spies - List of Famous Spies - page 2

When we talk of spies, one of the first names that come to mind is that of Mata Hari, the exotic dancer and high class prostitute in Paris who spied for Germany during World War I. However not many spies--people who engage in spying, espionage or clandestine operations—are as glamorous as she was. Sir Francis Walsingham, the principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England who lived centuries before Mata Hari is believed to be the spymaster who developed several of the modern espionage methods. The 19th century spy Pyotr Ivanovich Rachkovsky was chief of Okhrana, the secret service in Imperial Russia who achieved considerable success in controlling Russia’s growing revolutionary movement by way of his political operations. Central Intelligence Agency counterintelligence officer and analyst turned spy Aldrich Hazen Ames compromised a large number of CIA agents—second only to those betrayed by Robert Hanssen, who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years. Former intelligence analyst for the United States government Jonathan Jay Pollard spied for and provided top-secret classified information to Israel. This section provides you information about the life and works of famous spies from all over the world.

The Most Famous Spies

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Nathan HaleJune 6, 1755AmericanNathan Hale was an American patriot and martyr who fought for the Continental Army during the American War of Independence
Hiroo OnodaMarch 19, 1922JapaneseHiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer
Aldrich AmesMay 26, 1941AmericanAldrich Hazen Ames is a former CIA officer, who was convicted of espionage against his own country in 1994
Virginia HallApril 6, 1906AmericanVirginia Hall Goillot was an American spy and most wanted by the ‘Geheime Staatspolizei’ (Gestapo), the official secret police of Nazis
John AndréMay 2, 1750BritishJohn André was a British Army officer who was tried and executed for his espionage by the ‘Continental Army’ at the time of the ‘American War of Independence’
Clyde TolsonMay 22, 1900AmericanClyde Tolson was an American secret service agent and the first Associate Director of the FBI who was in office for over four decades
Robert HanssenApril 18, 1944AmericanRobert Philip Hanssen is a former ‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’ (FBI) agent, who became infamous as a notorious double agent of the intelligence services of Soviet Union and later Russia.
Klaus FuchsDecember 29, 1911GermanEmil Julius Klaus Fuchs was a German theoretical physicist and an atomic spy who provided valuable information to the Soviet Union
Mata HariAugust 7, 1876DutchMata Hari was a dancer, courtesan and a spy, who was executed in France on charges of espionage
Peggy ShippenJuly 11, 1760AmericanPeggy Shippen was a notorious spy who along with her husband Benedict Arnold conspired against the Americans
Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming was an English author and naval intelligence officer best known for his James Bond series of spy novels

BritishMay 28, 1908165 views

Giacomo Casanova

Giacomo Casanova was an adventurer, writer and a spy, born in eighteenth century Venice

ItalianApril 2, 1725133 views

Mata Hari

Mata Hari was a dancer, courtesan and a spy, who was executed in France on charges of espionage

DutchAugust 7, 1876183 views

Benjamin Thomas Wolf

Benjamin Thomas Wolf, aged 42, is a retired ‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’ (FBI) agent and a current adjunct professor of human rights and political science at ‘Roosevelt University’ in Chicago.

American1975126 views

Clyde Tolson

Clyde Tolson was an American secret service agent and the first Associate Director of the FBI who was in office for over four decades

AmericanMay 22, 1900292 views

Peggy Shippen

Peggy Shippen was a notorious spy who along with her husband Benedict Arnold conspired against the Americans

AmericanJuly 11, 1760173 views

Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale was an American patriot and martyr who fought for the Continental Army during the American War of Independence

AmericanJune 6, 1755397 views